﻿342 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  broke 
  up 
  and 
  the 
  members 
  went 
  home. 
  They 
  were 
  not 
  seen 
  again 
  

   that 
  evening 
  or 
  the 
  next 
  morning. 
  

  

  During 
  this 
  day, 
  the 
  21st, 
  and 
  the 
  next 
  an 
  occasional 
  caterpillar 
  

   came 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  tent 
  but 
  soon 
  returned, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  till 
  the 
  evening 
  

   of 
  the 
  22d 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  appeared. 
  These 
  once 
  more 
  explored 
  

   the 
  naked 
  branches 
  and 
  traveled 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  the 
  new 
  paths 
  on 
  the 
  

   trunk, 
  but 
  none 
  was 
  observed 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  tree. 
  On 
  the 
  23d 
  and 
  

   24th 
  no 
  caterpillars 
  were 
  seen. 
  On 
  the 
  25th 
  the 
  tent 
  was 
  opened 
  

   and 
  only 
  two 
  small 
  individuals 
  were 
  found 
  within 
  it. 
  Each 
  of 
  these 
  

   was 
  weak 
  and 
  flabby, 
  its 
  alimentary 
  canal 
  completely 
  empty, 
  its 
  

   fat 
  tissue 
  almost 
  gone. 
  But 
  what 
  had 
  become 
  of 
  the 
  rest? 
  Prob- 
  

   ably 
  they 
  had 
  wandered 
  off 
  unobserved 
  one 
  by 
  one. 
  Certainly 
  there 
  

   had 
  been 
  no 
  organized 
  migration. 
  Solitary 
  caterpillars 
  were 
  subse- 
  

   quently 
  found 
  on 
  a 
  dozen 
  or 
  more 
  small 
  apple 
  trees 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  

   vicinity. 
  It 
  is 
  likely 
  that 
  most 
  of 
  these 
  had 
  molted 
  and 
  had 
  gone 
  

   into 
  the 
  last 
  stage, 
  since 
  their 
  time 
  was 
  ripe. 
  But 
  this 
  was 
  not 
  

   determined. 
  

  

  In 
  general, 
  the 
  tent 
  caterpillars 
  live 
  easy 
  and 
  comfortable 
  lives. 
  

   Still, 
  they 
  have 
  their 
  troubles, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  serious 
  ones. 
  They 
  

   are 
  destroyed 
  when 
  young 
  by 
  exposure 
  to 
  adverse 
  weather, 
  they 
  are 
  

   eaten 
  by 
  birds 
  and 
  by 
  other 
  insects, 
  they 
  are 
  killed 
  by 
  internal 
  para- 
  

   sites, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  attacked 
  by 
  a 
  deadly 
  disease. 
  But 
  insects 
  seldom 
  

   actively 
  contend 
  against 
  destructive 
  forces. 
  They 
  do 
  not 
  believe 
  in 
  

   direct 
  action. 
  They 
  are 
  like 
  plants 
  in 
  this 
  respect, 
  depending 
  rather 
  

   on 
  numbers 
  than 
  on 
  resistance 
  for 
  the 
  maintenance 
  of 
  their 
  species. 
  

  

  Yet 
  even 
  the 
  tent 
  caterpillars 
  sometimes 
  make 
  feeble 
  efforts 
  at 
  self- 
  

   defense. 
  Amongst 
  their 
  enemies 
  is 
  a 
  small 
  bug 
  which 
  lies 
  in 
  wait 
  

   for 
  them 
  as 
  they 
  come 
  out 
  to 
  feed. 
  The 
  bug 
  is 
  armed 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  

   piercing 
  and 
  sucking 
  beak, 
  and 
  when 
  it 
  sees 
  a 
  column 
  of 
  caterpillars 
  

   headed 
  in 
  its 
  direction 
  it 
  cautiously 
  advances 
  and 
  stabs 
  at 
  a 
  passing 
  

   individual. 
  If 
  the 
  threatened 
  caterpillar 
  is 
  not 
  punctured, 
  it 
  wards 
  

   off 
  other 
  strokes 
  from 
  the 
  bug 
  by 
  suddenly 
  switching 
  its 
  body 
  from 
  

   side 
  to 
  side 
  and 
  goes 
  on 
  its 
  way 
  unharmed. 
  The 
  intimidated 
  bug 
  

   often 
  has 
  to 
  make 
  many 
  assaults 
  on 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  procession 
  before 
  

   it 
  secures 
  a 
  victim, 
  which, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  custom 
  of 
  its 
  species, 
  

   must 
  be 
  speared 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  body 
  segment. 
  When 
  at 
  last, 
  though, 
  

   its 
  thrust 
  takes 
  hold 
  the 
  assassin 
  lifts 
  the 
  kicking 
  and 
  squirming 
  

   victim 
  off 
  its 
  feet 
  and 
  lets 
  it 
  hang 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  its 
  beak. 
  

   Then, 
  crooking 
  the 
  elbow 
  of 
  the 
  four- 
  jointed 
  sheath 
  of 
  the 
  beak 
  

   and 
  holding 
  the 
  slender 
  piercing 
  and 
  tubular 
  parts 
  firmly 
  in 
  the 
  tip, 
  

   the 
  bug 
  sucks 
  out 
  the 
  juices 
  of 
  the 
  writhing 
  caterpillar 
  as 
  calmly 
  

   as 
  if 
  it 
  were 
  drinking 
  a 
  glass 
  of 
  soda 
  through 
  a 
  straw 
  (fig. 
  8). 
  But 
  

   the 
  caterpillar 
  shortly 
  ceases 
  its 
  motions 
  and 
  hangs 
  limp, 
  as 
  if 
  the 
  

   bug 
  had 
  injected 
  some 
  anesthetic 
  into 
  its 
  body. 
  Several 
  species 
  of 
  

   these 
  bugs 
  (Podisus) 
  attack 
  the 
  caterpillars 
  also 
  in 
  the 
  tents. 
  

  

  